Centre Gets Two Weeks Time To Clear It's Stand On Criminalisation Of Marital Rape

Delhi High Court on criminalising of marital rape has now granted the Centre two weeks to state its position on petitions seeking the criminalisation of marital rape. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's submitted that the government is neither in favour of nor against striking down the immunity granted to husbands under the Indian Penal Code.

Mehta emphasised that criminalising marital rape, which is a sensitive socio-legal issue, requires a "holistic assessment" and that a request for a deferred hearing was not unreasonable. He also said that the Centre's position on the petitions was represented in its most recent affidavit, which requested more time to conduct a consultative process before making a judgement.

A bench led by Justice Rajiv Shakdher, which is hearing petitions seeking to overturn the Indian rape law's exception for husbands, stated that the issue must be decided by the court or the legislature. The bench gave the Centre two weeks to clear its position.

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"We don't claim to be a repository of all wisdom but it is our job as a Constitutional court to decide a list which comes before us...We don't even know what call we are going to take at the moment (on the issue),” said the bench, also comprising Justice C Hari Shankar.

"As a court, it does not gel well that we keep the matter pending," remarked the court which listed the case for hearing on February 21.

The Centre filed an affidavit last week seeking the court to postpone hearings of the petitions, arguing that criminalising marital rape has socio-legal ramifications in the country and that a meaningful consultative process with various stakeholders and state governments is required.

It had declared that the Centre was committed to defending "every woman's liberty, dignity, and rights as the fundamental foundation and pillar of a civilised society," and that any government help could only be effective.

The first petition was filed in 2015, and the provisions whose validity is being challenged have been in place since the inception rape law, according to the affidavit. The hearing has only begun because one of the petitioners mentioned the matter for final hearing during the pandemic. The Central government argued that they go time to process the information in the matter and its implications with other stakeholders.

The court had previously stated that the central government must decide on its position on the issue and had asked it to inform it whether it wants to withdraw its earlier affidavit submitted in the matter.

The petitioners argue that the marital rape exception under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (rape) is unconstitutional because it discriminates against married women who are sexually attacked by their husbands.